


Venerable

by 7veilsphaedra



Category: Saiyuki, Saiyuki (Anime & Manga), Saiyuki Gaiden
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:40:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25702951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/7veilsphaedra/pseuds/7veilsphaedra
Summary: A moment of conversation between the dragon-king and his field marshal after Tenpou’s incarceration and release.
Relationships: Goujun/Tenpou Gensui
Kudos: 5





	Venerable

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Enchanter for the 2014 Valentine_Smut Saiyuki giftfic exchange on Dreamwidth.   
> Prompts: serendipity; luminous; repentance  
> Posted to update archive.

Goujun could sense what transpired anywhere in the world simply by the taste and smell and feel of water. Western seas flowed into western oceans which mingled with every other ocean and flowed across the entire planet. Sometimes, the interconnection of everything spanned such vast distances and volumes, that he lost his focus as his mind was too diffused trying to read the currents deep beneath the surface swells, but it was in his nature to refocus and move between these ebbs and flows and planetary pulses.

Such immense power, such omnipresence and omniscience, yet the divine beast could not figure out his own field marshal, let alone corral him, not even during those years of their long tenure together when they had met secretly for pleasure and the release of tension. They had … drifted apart. Goujun wasn’t entirely sure how it had happened. 

Cleaned up, Tenpou looked as cool, serene and luminous as the lilies of which Goujun was so fond — the ones which grew on the fringes of stagnant bogs, sweetening the air. His temper was something else entirely. Nothing sweet-smelling about it. Nor was he the least bit repentant for having directed threats against the Jade Emperor’s Minister in his own office, the offence for which he had been arrested and thrown into the dungeons. Goujun had been obliged to pay his respects to the odious Kami and plead for Tenpou’s release. Even then, he had to wait a night.

“Do you not understand that our very existence is at his leisure?” The dragon-king had tried so patiently to explain. “Your insubordination is not only futile, but dangerous. It threatens us all.”

“I’m a dangerous god,” Tenpou flippantly, heedlessly, arrogantly admitted. Since when had he become such a free spirit?

“I did not give you permission to speak.” A filament of fury coursed through Goujun’s arteries. 

“Not required.” Tenpou bit off. He had lost all discretion and propriety. He was charging ahead, damn the torpedoes. “Don’t like it? Stop me.” 

Goujun had never seen him like this, “At least tell me what’s eating you. If you must speak, if you feel compelled to be outspoken, at least be honest and forthright!” 

At this, Tenpou’s lips clamped shut. To the dragon-king, it made no sense, none whatsoever, unless … “Are you protecting someone?”

Tenpou stayed silent. 

“Who are you protecting? Your men? The general?” A surge of jealousy poisoned Goujun’s tongue. “What have you been up to all this time during your sorties to Tougenkyou?”

The slight roll of Tenpou’s eyes told him that Tougenkyou was only a minor part of the problem. 

Goujun decided to drop his authority as king and speak as an old friend. “How can I resolve this if you won’t tell me what’s going on? Am I that untrustworthy?”

Tenpou tossed his hair, which meant yes. It was easy to see, from the way his lips were pressed together and the flash of his eyes, how furious he was. Goujun did not understand why so much fury was directed at him.

“We’ve shared a bed. I’ve had you naked, spread open beneath me. I’ve taken you and brought you safely through orgasm. I’ve had your prick in my mouth! I’ve swallowed your come! And you still think that I cannot be trusted? What was I to you, then? Was our affair a matter of mere serendipity? A passing fling? No other intimacy shared?”

Still, no response.

“That’s it. I’m old news. Not worth the consideration of an explanation, a reason, even a thank you for prostrating myself and kowtowing to that lowly …,” Goujun’s bile rose at the memory. “Slimy ….”

Tenpou laughed, his voice containing a pinprick of pity. “We’re all old news, Goujun. We’re all stagnant and unchanging and buried under the weight of inertia. We’re not dragons like you, ruling over a watery and ever-changing realm.”

“Aah.” Goujun heard and, at long last, understood.


End file.
